In the packaging of food emulsions, in particular meat emulsions into sausage-like packages, it is desired by the industry to use continuous tubular casings in order to minimize interruptions, i.e. downtime, to what can generally be classified as "automated food stuffing equipment." Generally, continuous flattened tubular casings are available packaged on, for example, a roll, coil, reel or spool, or alternatively, packaged in a folded manner. A roll or spool, as well as a coil or reel, of course, normally, although not always, needs to be mounted for rotation as the casing is fed to automated stuffing machines. Folded casing, on the other hand, does not have to be removed from its package for use, but is simply fed from the opened shipping carton directly to the automated stuffing machinery.
Where non-shirred, flattened casing is to be used, one approach to increasing the amount of running time between start-up of the automated packing equipment and shut-down to load new casing material, is to increase the size of the roll, coil, spool or reel (hereinafter collectively referred to as "rolls") on which the flattened casing is wound. This has limitations, in that the larger the size of the roll, the heavier it becomes and the more cumbersome to handle. Consequently, heavier-duty feed equipment is required to mount such rolls, and relatively higher-powered drive equipment is required to overcome the greater static inertia of such packaging to feed out the casing material wound thereon. In addition, mounting enlarged rolls becomes more difficult as such increased weight packaging is less easily handled. Thus, both weight and bulk of packages of flattened tubular food casing becomes a significant factor in relation to the facility of their use.
Another approach that has been proposed is related to the packaging of flattened unshirred casing folded and layered in boxes. Firstly, folding of the flattened casing in layers enables complete filling of squared boxes for efficient use of packaging space. This is an improvement in terms of space economy in comparison to the packaging of cylindrically shaped rolls in PG,4 squared boxes. However, weight of the package is still a factor. A variety of approaches have been proposed whereby the tail end of folded flattened casing in a given box (the last portion of the flattened casing remaining in the box as it is emptied) can be attached to the lead end of a casing extracted from a new and succeeding box. The most simple approach is to splice the two ends together, on-the-fly, with some form of adhesive, such as tape. However, with the high-speed machinery used at present for automated packing, splicing on-the-fly requires a heightened degree of manual dexterity, and not all are capable of performing routinely on an error-free basis, very rapidly as required.
A further approach is disclosed in German Laid Open patent application (Offenlegungsschrift) 33 18 373.2. In this patent publication, arrangements are disclosed in which the tail end of the flattened casing is left to extend out of the packaging carton so that it ma be spliced to the leading end of the next package of flattened casing. This splicing can be effectuated while the automated stuffing equipment is in full operation, during the period in which the initial packaging carton is being emptied. Thus, the dexterity required with the packaging system of the foregoing German patent publication is less demanding since splicing operations can be performed as the casing from the carton immediately adjacent to the stuffing machine is being filled.
There is a basic problem, however, inherent in any splicing technique. That is, the splice, if it holds, ultimately will encompass the food emulsion which is packed into it. The area of the splice, even though it may be functionally acceptable, still creates an unsightly joint on the food product which customers and users tend to find objectionable. Also as suggested, frequently the splice does not hold, causing even more downtime.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to have means for enhancing the ease by which individual packages of flattened food/sausage casing can be loaded onto automated filling equipment, particularly stuffing apparatus designed to employ continuous lengths of flattened, non-shirred casing guided along a path to the stuffing horn such as by a reciprocating casing carrier device. Stuffing apparatus employing such carriers are disclosed by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,534,084 and 3,919,739. While such carriers provide a reliable means for casing transport from a supply source to the stuffing horn of the stuffing apparatus, the initial step of threading the casing past the carrier rollers can be a slow and tedious process because most casing materials are quite flexible and difficult to maneuver through the narrow passage surrounding the carrier. A semi-rigid sleeve having tab end at the leading end of a flattened source of casing will permit easier, more efficient opening and loading of flattened casing onto the filling horn of food stuffing machines, especially those employing casing carrier devices.
Thus, the focus of the present invention is on enhancing the threadability of casing through narrow casing slots and past systems of rollers associated with casing carriers. The present invention also focuses on facilitating rapid extraction of the lead end of flattened tubular casing from new shipping cartons containing flattened non-shirred casing. This includes means for rapidly and easily opening new cartons of flattened casing.